The Green Lane Project goes to Washington

By Martha Roskowski

We’re delighted to announce that the Green Lane Project is organizing a Congressional Briefing on Wednesday, March 6 in Washington DC. We’re honored to have the opportunity to share stories about protected lanes: the surge in the number of people biking, the great momentum behind protected lanes, and the many reasons cities are rethinking how their streets are used.

We’re turning to a trio of superstars to help tell the story:

Howard Lazarus, Director of Public Works for the City of Austin, TX will talk about the…

How cool if the feds led on good bike design!

By Martha Roskowski

A blog post today from Secretary LaHood, head of the US Department of Transportation, was very interesting. In recent remarks to AASHTO (the coalition of state departments of transportation) he spoke of a new effort:

From our nation's business leaders to the transportation professionals of AASHTO, America has made its support for foot-friendly transportation clear. The problem is—we don’t have modern roadway standards to go along with the complete streets a competitive community needs.

So today, I’m proud to say that DOT is…

San Francisco: Bikes allowed on BART for another test run

By Alexis Chavez

Bay Area bicycle commuters will have the opportunity to bring their “bikes on board” BART for a second phase of testing during the work week of Monday, March 18 through Friday, March 22.

Bay Area Rapid Transit, BART, initially held a test phase of a modified bike access program in August 2012, allowing bikes in all stations and on trains at all hours on every Friday. Currently, BART policy limits bicycle access to non-commute hours only.

“Our first pilot…

Improved Pennsylvania Avenue Green Lane in the spotlight

By David Cranor

Last month, Washington, DC had its usual day in the sun for the 57th Presidential Inauguration. But as the traditional parade moved from the Capitol to the White House, it became clear that one of the unexpected stars of the parade would be DC's Pennsylvania Avenue green lanes. In fact, DC's commitment to cycling was in the spotlight for the whole parade as the route followed an assortment of bicycle and pedestrian facilities, most of them built in the last four years. 

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Boxed in by politics, Portland tries a splash of color

By Michael Andersen

When protected bike lanes compete for space with commercial auto access, even Portlanders sometimes balk. That's why the city is trying a new tool to make bikers feel safe: paint.

Green paint.

Two half-mile stripes of it, down the middle of two extra-wide bike lanes.

Colored pavement is not hip in the world of bike infrastructure. It separates, but can't protect; it requests, but can't enforce. Last year, a Portland study even found that green bike boxes may actually make…

SFMTA releases new bicycle strategy

By Alexis Chavez

Last month, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency presented its five year Bicycle Strategy, aimed at improving and growing bicycling in the city. The new plan is an essential piece in keeping the city economically competitive, while improving the quality of life and enhancing transportation connections to ensure visitors and residents can bike more and drive less.

Progress Made

While the Bicycle Strategy focuses on upcoming changes, it also highlights a few recent improvements. Since 2008, the SFTMA has installed 1,400 additional bicycle racks in bike corrals and on sidewalks, bumping the citywide rack count…

CDOT Looks Back at Chicago’s Bikeway Progress in 2012

By John Greenfield

The Chicago Department of Transportation recently gave itself a well-deserved pat on the back with the release of the 2012 Bikeways – Year in Review report. The new document does a great job of getting the message across about just how much the city accomplished last year in building new bikeways and how these improvements will benefit all Chicagoans.

The numbers in the report show that CDOT got an extraordinary amount of work done in 2012. The agency installed or restriped 39 miles of…

Study to Measure Impact of Protected Bike Lanes

Bikes Belong and Portland State University team on groundbreaking research 

A new research study is underway at Portland State University (PSU), designed to measure the societal impact of next-generation protected bike lanes, called green lanes. Green lanes are dedicated, inviting spaces for people on bikes in the roadway, protected from cars and separated from sidewalks.

Lessons from the Green Lane, a Comprehensive Evaluation of Protected Cycling Facilities, is collecting quantitative data to examine ridership, safety, and the economic impact of green lanes in six major U.S. cities. The study, which kicked off in September 2012, will run…

Mapping comfort: how psychological stress influences bike maps

By Nathan Wilkes

At its core, the Green Lane Project is about transforming the way our streets are designed. With this change comes the challenge of representing our evolving bicycling networks in maps, both paper maps and the increasingly important array of online mapping tailored to bicycling. This post is part one of two, focusing on traditional printed maps. A subsequent post will look into web-based mapping tools.

So, what should be shown on a bicycle map? Accurate and clear representation of our ever-improving networks is a basic goal. Maps should provide helpful route-finding information that encourages people to pump up…

Ed Koch, force behind creation and removal of first green lanes, passes away

By David Cranor

Ed Koch, the three-term Mayor of New York City passed away this week, leaving a mixed legacy on cycling.  But that he built, and quickly removed, the first on-street protected bike paths in the United States makes cycling and green lanes forever a part of his legacy.

Koch had long been an advocate of cycling and bike lanes. In 1971 Congressman Koch said ""The only way to insure safety for the many thousands of New Yorkers who want to bicycle…